For Now, Top Rookie Starlin Castro's Bat Well Ahead of Glove

WASHINGTON -- Reasons for hope aren't easy to find on the North Side of Chicago these days. Lou Piniella has stepped down as manager, the roster, which is responsible for a 54-74 record, is riddled with overpaid (possibly over-the-hill) veterans and, of course, there's that whole 102 years of championship futility thing.

Every success story -- even one more than a century in the making -- has to start somewhere, though, and with these Cubs it might just begin with Starlin Castro.

"(His offense) has kind of spoken for itself," said Cubs interim manager Mike Quade after Castro delivered the game-winning RBI in a 4-0 win over the Nationals Wednesday night.

Indeed it has.

The 20-year-old shortstop is one of the leading candidates for the National League Rookie of the Year Award this year. Called up May 7, he announced his presence with a bang, driving in six runs in his major league debut. He's kept hitting since, posting a .315 average that would put him sixth in the NL batting title race if he had enough plate appearances to qualify (he was six shy as of Wednesday morning.)

Producing in clutch situations has only enhanced an impressive rookie campaign. Castro's go-ahead double in the eighth inning of 0-0 contest Wednesday was his ninth game-winning RBI of the season, more than anyone else on the Cubs roster.

"Obviously his average is excellent, and his at-bats in those kind of situations have been pretty darn good, and, again, a kid that's still learning, but from an offensive standpoint, he's contributed hugely ... for a young player," Quade said.

It hasn't been a total cakewalk for Castro, though -- it rarely is for rookies learning the ropes in the major leagues -- and the youngster's high error total has come into focus in Chicago right alongside the big hits.

Castro has made 20 errors in 96 games -- projecting out to roughly 34 over a full season. His .952 fielding percentage is the second-worst among qualified shortstops in the major leagues, ironically just ahead of his counterpart this week, the Nationals' Ian Desmond, and he's got the second-most errors of anyone in the NL despite spending more than a month of the season in the minor leagues.

It's not something that worries Cubs interim manager Mike Quade deeply, but it is something he and the team are monitoring.

"[You notice] probably only because he's so talented," Quade said.

"But you watch the guys ... that are able to slow things down when things speed up. You have to be able to slow things down. That doesn't mean you nonchalant something, but in your mind you slow things down, which allows you to make plays."

Castro is athletic, on the tall-and-lanky side for a middle infielder at 6-feet, 190 pounds, and with his offensive prowess and the Cubs' struggles at large, the defensive growing pains are something the team can live with for now.

"That's something that, even for a talented kid, it's usually a learning process that takes years," Quade said.

Even taking into account UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating), it's something he'll have to tighten up; FanGraphs.com ranks him in the low-middle of the pack among qualified shortstops in that department, which means unless he starts getting to more balls, Castro will not be able to afford the extra lapses a more rangy shortstop would.

The good news is, because of his immense offensive talent -- the thing responsible for 34 extra-base hits (fifth most among NL rookies) -- he'll get every opportunity to shore up the parts of his game that actually need a little work.